With a worldwide need for abundant and inexpensive energy production, nuclear generated power is increasing exponentially along with world population growth. The first commercial nuclear power stations started operation in June 1954. Since then, nuclear power generation has increased such that there are over 443 commercial nuclear power reactors operable in 31 countries, with over 375,000 MWe total capacity. Currently, as of 2015, there are about 66 more reactors under construction. Increased nuclear power production requires an increase in nuclear waste-water remediation.
With the present state of the art, nuclear waste water is typically containerized and stored indefinitely at specialized storage facilities. What is needed in the art is a mobile, modular, and scalable waste water treatment system designed to be both transported and operated from an intermodal shipping container for increased mobility, modularity, and scalability between sites and on-site, further increasing the speed, flexibility, and ease with which the system may be deployed. Additionally, a complete modular waste water treatment system is needed wherein various different modules for performing different forms of waste water remediation may be connected in parallel and/or in series in order to perform all of the waste water remediation requirements and process time requirements for any given site. It would also be advantageous for additional modules to be available for further processing of the contaminants removed from the water during the waste water remediation process(es) such that the contaminants do not need to be transported from the site for further processing prior to final disposition. An all-in-one mobile, modular, and scalable waste water remediation and contaminant post-processing system as described in this disclosure would be advantageous for providing a complete solution for any given site, reducing transportation of hazardous materials, reducing implementation costs, and diminishing overall complexity of standard existing practices.
Mobile water processing is well known in the art. However, most existing mobile water processing systems are comprised of merely one specific process, or multiple processes within a single transportable module. Sites requiring waste water remediation are diverse in their specific requirements, topography, and the location. Natural disaster, terrorist attacks, and malfunctions often require rapid deployment of aid to mitigate overall damage to the environment and adverse effect to people living in the region surrounding the site. Current water remediation systems are not sufficient to perform this task. What is needed is a highly mobile, easily transportable, scalable, modular system that can be deployed quickly (often within 24 hours depending on site location, topography, and remediation requirements) and cost-effectively. The system should be highly adaptable to differing remediation requirements, scalable to maximize efficiency, and modular to perform all remediation needs including outputting water within safety standards as well as processing the removed contaminants to final disposition standards.
So as to reduce the complexity and length of the Detailed Specification, and to fully establish the state of the art in certain areas of technology, Applicant(s) herein expressly incorporate(s) by reference all of the following publications identified below. Applicant(s) expressly reserve(s) the right to swear behind any of the incorporated materials.
KUR-5P12-SDD-001 “Kurion Mobile Processing System” (KMPS), System Level Design Description, formerly marked Kurion Confidential, Document Issued Feb. 9, 2014, filed Jun. 24, 2014 as U.S. Provisional Application 62/016,517, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Applicant(s) believe(s) that the material incorporated above is “non-essential” in accordance with 37 CFR 1.57, because it is referred to for purposes of indicating the background of the invention or illustrating the state of the art. However, if the Examiner believes that any of the above-incorporated material constitutes “essential material” within the meaning of 37 CFR 1.57(c)(1)-(3), applicant(s) will amend the specification to expressly recite the essential material that is incorporated by reference as allowed by the applicable rules.